Jacqueline Frances, an artist and stripper who is known by her name “Jacq the Stripper,” has worked in dozens of clubs and counted untold stacks of money since she started her career seven years ago. The 30 year old has since amassed a following of 67,000 on Instagram, embarked on an international talent show tour, and written three books, including one released in April called “Striptastic.” The coffee-table collection of illustrations is based on interviews she did with nearly 300 strippers from around the world.

From her writing, tours and work as a stripper Frances has gleaned a number of important finance tips and knowledge. Frances, who is originally from Ontario, Canada, started stripping when she was traveling seven years ago in Australia and ran out of money. She quickly realized stripping was “the best job” she ever had, she says, and stayed in Australia until her visa expired after a year.

She then traveled the U.S., stripping in different cities, but often found herself returning to New York where she had met her girlfriend — now wife. They were married three years ago and now Frances lives in the city full time, continuing her work as a stripper and teaching workshops. Her $60 class ‘How to Hustle Like a Stripper in Any Career’ helps participants learn how to articulate their goals and succeed at them, she says, and ends with a dance workshop.

MarketWatch talked with Frances about the wage gap, the gig economy and how to hustle like a stripper — in any career:

MarketWatch: Can you talk about what drew you to stripping?

Jacqueline Frances: Women are always going to be treated like a commodity and an object — we are never going to be able to stop the male gaze and objectification — but we can subvert it and use it for our own gain. When I realized I can channel [the male gaze] into money, my life got so much easier.

MarketWatch: Do you consider stripping part of the “gig economy” or is it different from things like freelancing?

Frances: It is a job like any other job. It has been my job for seven years and it’s been the job I’m most devoted to -- you have to show up, and you’re expected to work. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. Stripping has a lot in common with freelancing. You have to establish your worth and set your rate, and I think that is really intimidating for people. It’s always competitive and there is always someone around the corner willing to do the same thing for less.

‘Stripping has a lot in common with freelancing. You have to establish your worth and set your rate. There is always someone around the corner willing to do the same thing for less.’

That’s really comparable to sex work, because knowing your worth is hard and not something that comes naturally. You have to discover it and stick to it, because people will constantly try to undersell you. As a woman, this is something you deal with every day.

Every dollar we earn is personally hustled — there is no passive income. This isn’t like a traditional 9 to 5 job where if I show up to work and don’t feel great or don’t do my best, I still get paid. I have to go into work and hustle no matter what. Often we actually pay to rent the facility to do our business, so we are walking in the door at minus-$200 and have to dig our way out.

MarketWatch: What tips do you have for people trying to maximize their income in the gig economy?

Frances: Chase after passive income. Create something that can sell and sell again.There’s something to be said about creating something and being able to profit from it for an extended period of time.

You can’t hustle if you don’t believe in it. I used to sell expensive clothes working in retail and I got fired because I hated it. If you believe in the product, it’s easy to sell. You also need to keep emotional labor in mind.

MarketWatch: What is “emotional labor” and how does it factor into freelance life?

Frances: Emotional labor is someone not seeing that the time you are spending with them is time that could be spent doing something else — when someone comes into the club and just talks your ear off without paying you. That is exploiting emotional labor. Go pay a therapist. This is a common theme in the gig economy and sex work especially.

Can you put a number on it? I don’t know, but ultimately knowing that your emotional labor has value and time has value reminds you that you should be paid for the service you’re giving and makes it easier to charge for it.

Frances: I save all my money. I don’t spend money I don’t have. I don’t put purchases I don’t have money for on credit. Counting your money is a ritual that we enjoy at the end of the night, it’s part of patting yourself on the back and celebrating how hard you worked. Because nobody else is celebrating how hard you work so you might as well do it for yourself.

‘Emotional labor is someone not seeing that the time you are spending with them is time that could be spent doing something else — when someone talks your ear off without paying you.’

MarketWatch: How has being paid in small bills affected your view of money and budgeting?

Frances: It’s water in your hands. It’s easy to just spend that money quickly, but it has also gotten me to a place where I feel like I can’t spend money that isn’t in my pocket -- so for me it’s been great. As my career transitions to more art and events, the way I make money has changed quite a lot and it’s quite an adjustment. When I’m paid electronically, it’s hard to know when to expect money and how much it will actually be. I’ve been stripping for 7 years so knowing how to budget and save with cash was something I grew quite comfortable with and now I’m adjusting.

MarketWatch: What are your thoughts on unions. Is there a place for them in sex work?

Frances: Wouldn’t that be great? I think about it a lot and I desperately want strippers to unionize, but there is a fleetingness to our job and where we work that makes it difficult. We are so far away from being respected as people that the concept of unionizing just seems unattainable.

It would be great because the labor conditions of stripping are fairly awful. Long hours, safety issues, and the management at most clubs is pretty garbage. It is something we all accept — high risk, high reward.

We are so far away from being respected as people that the concept of unionizing just seems unattainable. It would be great because the labor conditions of stripping are fairly awful.’

Stripping is pretty much like any physical labor job under late capitalism: we are seen as disposable and not respected for the work we do.

MarketWatch: How does stripping affect your view of the wage gap? Do you have thoughts on how it can be addressed in other industries?

Frances: If you’re a woman, you should always assume that you aren’t being paid fairly. The cynicism is high. I am in a woman-dominated industry, but 99.9% of my clients are men and, mostly, high-powered men who don’t have enough female peers.

Patriarchy is so terrified of female power so that’s why we get shamed so much for turning a profit for what men expect to have for free. The wage gap is very real and it’s a privilege to work in an industry where the inverse is true.

MarketWatch: How do you think we should address the wage gap?

Frances: I am interested in giving my money to other women and non-binary people. If you need something done, hire women — find a woman to do the job. Find a person of color, or a trans person. If you have the money to hire somebody to do something, I would suggest not hiring a cisgender heterosexual white dude — they have all the jobs already, they don’t need anymore.

Mortgage Rates

Powered by

This advertisement is provided by Bankrate, which compiles rate data from more than 4,800 financial institutions. Bankrate is paid by financial institutions whenever users click on display advertisements or on rate table listings enhanced with features like logos, navigation links, and toll free numbers. Dow Jones receives a share of these revenues when users click on a paid placement.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.